The Afters
by lyingtonguesareclumsy
Summary: Ever wonder what happened to a few certain Espada whose fates were left as loose ends? A series of one-shots. Grimmjow, Nel, &c. DISCLAIMER: Characters aren't mine, just the plot!
1. Grimmjow Watched

Grimmjow watched, forgotten, far in the background. It was just as well. It wasn't like he could do anything in this pathetic state he had been diminished to.

Damn, Ichigo could pack a punch. He knew it too, just never really realized how far his enemy would take it to get to where he needed to be, to do what he needed to do.

But could he truly call Ichigo his enemy? After all he'd saved him. Saved that girl, Orihime or something. Just so he could have another go at Ichigo. He didn't follow Aizen's orders. He'd deliberately temporarily disengaged Ulqiorra. And Ichigo had spared him. Just now, when he could have easily ended it all. No, Ichigo wasn't his enemy. Not really. Ichigo was more of an adversary, anyways. He just liked to fight him.

And could they ever fight. But Grimmjow conceded that he'd gotten whipped this last round. Ichigo beat him good and proper this time. Better not to threaten Ichigo's precious people in the future. It seemed like if even one vague acquaintance seemed to be even a little bit in danger, Ichigo suddenly became ten times stronger. No fair! They were everywhere! But, after messing with Ichigo that way twice, he'd learnt his lesson. If he ever wanted to win against Ichigo, in a fair fight, like this one had turned out, no one else would be involved.

Grimmjow had seen it. Oh, had he ever. He'd nearly had Ichigo. He'd almost won. But for Ichigo's determination. Determination. Now that was something he could respect. It's why he kept coming back for more. And he and Ichigo, well they had it in spades. Made for a good fight.

But now, watching Ichigo get battered around by Noitra, he was confused.

Confused because Ichigo spared him.

Confused because now Ichigo was fighting for him as well as the healing girl and the weird little green kid.

Confused because he was feeling a feeling that he refused to name because he shouldn't be feeling it, because he was feeling that it was somehow a bit of his fault that Ichigo wasn't able to put up as good of a defense. Hey, he did want to fight Ichigo again someday after all. Dying now would screw that up spectacularly.


	2. Nel Waited

The moon shone through a large hole of fake blue sky and a light breeze tousled the green scrap of fabric as two hazel eyes fluttered open. And then a whisper was heard, barely audible, even to the dead silence of the surrounding area. "Nel remembers…" And then those troubled eyes closed once again.

····

Dry and cracked lips smacked together as a sand-parpery tongue searched out water, only to be disappointed.

"Itsygo?"

No response.

"Pesche? Dondochakka? Bowabowa?"

Still nothing.

Tears started to gather up and fall. "Nel is all alone in the world. Nel has never been so alone before. What will Nel do?"

····

As Nel sat up to take in her surroundings, she noticed quite a few unusual things. Firstly, everything around her looked wrecked. Even the ceiling had a huge hole in it. The various towers were falling over, some were crumbling to dust, and had huge gouges where it looked like a battering ram had decided to have some fun. There was a funny looking contraption set a while away. It looked very dangerous. Nel wouldn't go near there.

The most important thing that Nel noticed to was the lack of movement. Beyond the small breeze ruffling her hair, she could hear nothing. Detect nothing. One would think, with its sheer mass, this would be quite expected for Las Noches, but Nel knew. Nel had been there before.

Now there was nothing. Before she had entered the huge palace with Ichigo and his group, even in Hueco Mundo, even the lowliest of hollows knew that there was always something going on in Las Noches. You could _feel_ it. You could sense the shifts of reiatsu, feel the heavy concentration of spirit energy condensed in that place.

And then, when she had entered, there were so many fights, you could always tell that something else was happening somewhere else and it was just as important as what was happening where you were. But, still it was always in the back of your mind. You were always _aware_.

And now, nothing. No sounds of the recovering or injured, no small lizard hollows come to investigate. It was desolate.

Even where there should have been traces of old reiatsu, telling that someone had been here or that someone else was going in that direction, were gone without a trace.

"Nel is all alone."

What had happened? How long had she been out? For if any lingering traces of reiatsu were gone then it must have been some time. Why hadn't she been found? So many questions popped up in Nel's head as she took in all the information around her.

Nel knew this wasn't supposed to happen. She remembered. Everything that Noitra had done. Everything that Ichigo had done. How she had tried to save him but couldn't maintain her full form and was detransformed only to be kicked away into unconsciousness. So where were they? The good guys, the bad guys, the questionable guys, her brothers? All gone?

Why? Why didn't they take Nel?

Couldn't they find her? Or were they all dead? No. No, Ichigo wouldn't leave her behind on purpose. He came here for a reason, to stop Lord Aizen. So if he wasn't here and she wasn't with him or anybody else for that matter, then it was too dangerous for her to be with them.

Ichigo was alive. Ichigo would win. And then he would come back for Nel. Nel knew it. Ichigo wouldn't forget Nel.

And so, Nel would wait. Nel would wait and wander and search. Nel would make new friends. And find her brothers. And try to find a way to see Ichigo again so they could be together. So Nel would know he was okay. But most of all, Nel would wait. Because if Nel didn't wait, that meant Nel didn't expect Ichigo to come back for her and remember her or even think that he was capable of something so simple and important as friendship. Because that would mean Ichigo didn't care. Or that he couldn't. And Nel didn't believe any of that.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hola! so these are just short little ideas about characters who faded away from the plot without any formal goodbyes. Like I know Grimmjow was seriously injured from Ichigo and his fight and then Noitra but you don't ever find out if he actually dies or anything. And then Nel, once she turns back into a kid its much more immediately about the captains fighting and ... yes, she just disappears. And Nel and Grimmjow are two of my most favorite characters! So yes, jut some ideas about what might go through their heads after those occasions. **

**Let me know if there are other characters you feel were left out, because I can't really think of many more right now :] Thanks for any R&Rs.**

**byee, me, .lyingtonguesareclumsy.**


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